Stripped
by Wendymypooh
Summary: When Phoebe Halliwell's powers are stripped from her, she questions why she was given them in the first place.     This story was written for the Charmed Las LJ challenge.


She had known that there was a real possibility that some day one of her sisters or herself would lose their powers permanently. Whether it was during a battle with a particularly nasty warlock or some other supernatural being she didn't know. She had never considered that her powers would be stripped from her permanently by the Powers That Be.

What kind of injustice was that? After all the sacrifices she and her sisters had made in their lives for the greater good of mankind. She had already lost her mom, Penny, and her older sister, Prue, to the ongoing fight all Halliwell's waged against evil. Who else was she going to lose?

It was not fair. Who was she without her powers? How was the Charmed Ones supposed to survive without one of them having their powers? Her powers weren't defensive ones like Piper or Paige's but they were active and useful. She could not recall how many lives she and her sisters had saved because of one of her premonitions?

"Why?" Phoebe shouted up to the Heavens. "Why are you doing this to me? How am I supposed to help my sisters protect innocents when I don't have my powers anymore? I'm a good witch, damn it! I know I made a mistake casting that vanquishing spell on that supernatural creep in such an open space, but I just couldn't stand there and let it kill that innocent child could I?"

There was no response to her impassioned pleas and Phoebe felt scalding hot tears flood her eyes as she lowered her head in defeat. She threw herself onto her bed and wept. Overwhelming loss flooded over her, consuming her, terrifying her.

How long did they have before warlocks and other supernatural bad guys found out that the Charmed Ones no longer held such a magical threat for them? How soon would she have to watch as another one of her beloved sisters died in battle and she was unable to do anything to help them? What if she lost Paige, Piper, Leo, Wyatt or Chris? What was she suppose to do without them? How could the Powers That Be just stand by and let her family be taken from her because they had stripped her of her powers?

Phoebe was unaware that her impassioned pleas to the Powers That Be had been overheard by her sisters. They stood on the other side of her locked door and listened with troubled, angry hearts to Phoebe's obvious pain. They were just as stunned and outraged that the Powers That Be had stripped her of her powers because she had risked exposure to them all in being spontaneous with saving an innocent's life. They were not about to take this newest turn of events in stride. Either the Powers That Be gave their sister back their powers or they could go find someone else to save the world. The Halliwell sisters were through being the magical scapegoats.

"Let's do it." Paige said, she grabbed Piper's hand and orbed them into Phoebe's room.

They crawled onto the bed on either side of Phoebe, spooning her much the way they had after she had helped them vanquish Cole, and Phoebe was glad to have them there. Just knowing that her sisters were close gave her comfort.

"We're going to get your powers back, Phoebe." Piper told her quietly, but firmly.

"How?" Phoebe asked tearfully.

"Give them an ultimatum they would be stupid to refuse." Paige said. "Either they give you your powers back or we walk away from our destiny. Let's see just how they deal with the supernatural baddies without their pet witches to step in and save the day."

"No!" Phoebe protested. "You can't…I don't want that!"

"This is our choice, Phoebe." Piper stated calmly. "Either they give you back your powers or they lose all of us."

Phoebe gazed from one sister to the other; saw the identical set of resolved expressions on Piper and Paige's faces, and knew that arguing with them was pointless. Her sisters' support meant the world to her, and regardless of what happened next, she knew that they would stand by her.


End file.
